---
type: source
title: "CFTC Sues Wisconsin (5th State) — No TRO Filed, Civil Actions Differ from Arizona Criminal Pattern"
author: "CoinDesk / SBC Americas / CFTC Press Release / Invezz"
url: https://www.coindesk.com/policy/2026/04/28/cftc-sues-wisconsin-in-agency-s-legal-campaign-defending-prediction-markets-authority
date: 2026-04-28
domain: internet-finance
secondary_domains: []
format: news-synthesis
status: processed
processed_by: rio
processed_date: 2026-04-29
priority: medium
tags: [cftc, wisconsin, prediction-markets, state-federal, preemption, lawsuit]
intake_tier: research-task
extraction_model: "anthropic/claude-sonnet-4.5"
---

## Content

**What happened:** CFTC filed federal lawsuit against Wisconsin on April 28, 2026 in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin, asking the court to block state enforcement efforts and declare Wisconsin's actions unconstitutional under the Supremacy Clause.

**What triggered it:** Wisconsin AG Josh Kaul filed 3 civil lawsuits on April 23-24, 2026 targeting 5 prediction market platforms (Coinbase, Crypto.com, Kalshi, Polymarket, Robinhood) that earn over $1 billion annually from sports contracts. State alleges sports event contracts violate Wisconsin gambling law.

**The 5-state campaign (26 days, April 2-28):**
1. April 2: Arizona, Connecticut, Illinois (simultaneous)
2. April 10: Arizona TRO granted (criminal charges → immediate federal response)
3. April 24: New York (SDNY)
4. April 28: Wisconsin (TODAY)

**No TRO in Wisconsin:** Unlike Arizona (where the state filed CRIMINAL charges, triggering immediate federal TRO), Wisconsin's state actions are CIVIL injunctions. No criminal prosecution → lower urgency for federal TRO. The CFTC's lawsuit seeks declaratory judgment and injunction, but no TRO motion filed.

**CFTC's legal claims:** Supremacy Clause + CEA exclusive jurisdiction over commodity derivatives. Wisconsin's gambling laws are field-preempted by the CEA when applied to CFTC-regulated DCMs.

**Oneida Nation clarification (previously misstated in my musing):** The Oneida Nation (Wisconsin tribal gaming entity) issued a statement SUPPORTING Wisconsin's lawsuit (IGRA-protected exclusivity argument) but is NOT a formal co-plaintiff. They are an interested party, not a litigant.

**Broader context:** CFTC is now operating a standing process to file offensive suits against any state that takes enforcement action against DCM-registered platforms. The response time is accelerating (same-day or next-day filing).

## Agent Notes

**Why this matters:** Wisconsin confirms the 5-state pattern. The CFTC's litigation campaign is now a standing operation, not ad-hoc. But the absence of a TRO in Wisconsin is notable — CFTC's most powerful immediate tool (TRO) is reserved for criminal prosecution cases (Arizona). Civil enforcement actions get declaratory/injunction relief, which takes months.

**What surprised me:** No TRO in Wisconsin even though CFTC filed within hours of the Wisconsin AG's lawsuits. The criminal/civil distinction is the key variable.

**What I expected but didn't find:** TRO motion in Wisconsin. The absence confirms the criminal/civil threshold.

**KB connections:**
- Pattern from Sessions 3-31: "5-state CFTC campaign confirms enforcement scope bounded to DCM-registered centralized platforms"
- [[futarchy-based fundraising creates regulatory separation because there are no beneficial owners and investment decisions emerge from market forces not centralized control]] — seventh enforcement action with zero mention of decentralized governance protocols

**Extraction hints:**
1. This source is more context/update than a standalone claim candidate. Primarily confirms the existing claim pattern with the Wisconsin data point.
2. "CFTC's TRO strategy distinguishes criminal prosecution (immediate TRO, as in Arizona) from civil enforcement actions (declaratory/injunction relief, as in Wisconsin, NY, IL, CT) — confirming the agency's most aggressive tools are reserved for criminal cases" [confidence: likely — based on pattern across 5 states]

**Context:** Massachusetts SJC case remains the most important pending decision. If SJC rules before any federal district court reaches a final injunction, it could set state supreme court precedent independently of CFTC's federal offensive campaign.

## Curator Notes
PRIMARY CONNECTION: [[futarchy-based fundraising creates regulatory separation because there are no beneficial owners and investment decisions emerge from market forces not centralized control]]
WHY ARCHIVED: Fifth state in the pattern; confirms standing CFTC rapid-response operation; TRO absence in Wisconsin (civil vs. criminal threshold) is new nuance in the enforcement pattern
EXTRACTION HINT: Low standalone extraction value — primarily an update to the 5-state pattern. If extracted, focus on the criminal/civil TRO threshold distinction as a new sub-claim about CFTC litigation strategy
